Shipwrecked Costa Concordia hauled upright off Italy (+photos)

The Costa Concordia is seen after it was lifted upright on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, early Tuesday morning, Sept. 17, 2013. The crippled cruise ship was pulled completely upright early Tuesday after a complicated, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side where it capsized last year off Tuscany, with officials declaring it a "perfect" end to a daring and unprecedented engineering feat.

Andrew Medichini, Associated Press

Summary

Engineers declared success on Tuesday as the Costa Concordia cruise ship was pulled completely upright during an unprecedented, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side where it capsized last year off Tuscany. The remarkable project now allows for a renewed search for the two bodies that were never recovered from the 32 dead, and for the ship to eventually be towed away.

GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy — Engineers declared success on Tuesday as the Costa Concordia cruise ship was pulled completely upright during an unprecedented, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side where it capsized last year off Tuscany. The remarkable project now allows for a renewed search for the two bodies that were never recovered from the 32 dead, and for the ship to eventually be towed away.

The Concordia's submerged side suffered significant damage during the 20 months it bore the weight of the Concordia on the jagged reef, and the daylong operation to right it stressed that flank as well. Exterior balconies were mangled and entire sections looked warped, though officials said the damage probably looks worse than it really is.

The damage must be repaired to stabilize the ship so it can withstand the coming winter, when seas and winds will whip the liner, and be towed to be turned into scrap sometime in 2014.

Shortly after 4 a.m., a foghorn boomed off Giglio Island and the head of Italy's Civil Protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, announced that the ship had reached vertical and that the operation to rotate it — known in nautical terms as parbuckling — was complete. It was a dramatic operation that unfolded in real time as TV cameras recorded the final hours when the rotation accelerated with gravity pulling the ship into place.

"We completed the parbuckling operation a few minutes ago the way we thought it would happen and the way we hoped it would happen," said Franco Porcellacchia, project manager for the Concordia's owner, Costa Crociere SpA.

"A perfect operation, I must say," with no environmental spill detected so far, he said.

For Italy, it was a moment of pride after the horror and embarrassment of the Jan. 13, 2012 collision. The Concordia slammed into a reef off Giglio Island after the Italian captain brought it too close to shore in an apparent stunt. He earned the public's contempt when he abandoned the ship before everyone was evacuated, and then refused coast guard orders to go back on board.

The Concordia drifted, listed and capsized just off the island's port, killing 32 people. Two bodies were never recovered. Now that the ship is upright, a new attempt can be made to locate the bodies, though Gabrielli stressed that the wreckage must be secured again before divers can go in.

"We hope that will happen in the next few days," he said.

Other recovery efforts were also possible now that the ship is upright: Officials can now go cabin to cabin to open the safes and return whatever was stowed inside to their rightful owners, officials said.

Premier Enrico Letta phoned Gabriele to congratulate him. "I told him that all those who are working there are a great pride," Letta tweeted.

Nick Sloane, the South African chief salvage master, received a hero's welcome as he came ashore from the barge that had served as the floating command control room for the operation, embraced and cheered by residents who have come to appreciate the work of his team, dubbed the "Magnificent 11."

"Brilliant! Perfetto," Sloane said, using some of the Italian he learned during a year on Giglio preparing for the operation. "It was a struggle, a bit of a roller coaster. But for the whole team it was fantastic."

The operation to right the ship had been expected to take no more than 12 hours, but dragged on after some initial delays and maintenance on the system of steel cables, pulleys and counterweights that were used to roll the 115,000-ton, half-submerged carcass of steel upright.

Parbuckling is a standard operation to right capsized ships. But never before had it been used on such a huge cruise liner.

Popular Comments

What a phenomenal engineering feat. The time lapse of the entire process, posted
on various news sites, is really interesting to watch.

8:48 a.m. Sept. 17, 2013

Top comment

dbrbmw

Orem, UT

How could they haul off that ship? It had to of displaced a whole marine
ecology and killed fish in the process.

7:28 a.m. Sept. 17, 2013

Top comment

Lagomorph

Salt Lake City, UT

Engineering can be so cool. I was one of those folks down at Pioneer Park
watching them move the locomotive and also at Sugar House when the spans from
the I-80 bridge farms were moved into place. Child's play compared to the
Costa Concordia
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